Schiller Collection - Don Carlos

8/3/2019 Schiller Collection - Don Carlos

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S c h i l l e r C o l l e c t i o n

DON CARLOS


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DON CARLOS

By

Frederich Von Schiller

Translated by R. D. Boylan


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DRAMATIS PERSONAE.

PHILIP THE SECOND, King of Spain.DON CARLOS, Prince, Son of Philip.

ALEXANDER FARNESE, Prince of Parma.

MARQUIS DE POSA.

DUKE OF ALVA.

Grandees of Spain:

COUNT LERMA, Colonel of the Body Guard,

DUKE OF FERIA, Knight of the Golden Fleece,

DUKE OF MEDINA SIDONIA, Admiral,

DON RAIMOND DE TAXIS, Postmaster-General,

DOMINGO, Confessor to the King.

GRAND INQUISITOR of Spain.

PRIOR of a Carthusian Convent.

PAGE of the Queen.

DON LOUIS MERCADO, Physician to the Queen.

ELIZABETH DE VALOIS, Queen of Spain.

INFANTA CLARA FARNESE, a Child three years of age.

DUCHESS D'OLIVAREZ, Principal Attendant on the Queen.

Ladies Attendant on the Queen:

MARCHIONESS DE MONDECAR,PRINCESS EBOLI,

COUNTESS FUENTES,

Several Ladies, Nobles, Pages, Officers of the Body-Guard,

and mute Characters.


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ACT I.

SCENE I.

The Royal Gardens in Aranjuez.

CARLOS and DOMINGO.

DOMINGO.

Our pleasant sojourn in Aranjuez

Is over now, and yet your highness quits

These joyous scenes no happier than before.

Our visit hath been fruitless. Oh, my prince,

Break this mysterious and gloomy silence!

Open your heart to your own father's heart!

A monarch never can too dearly buy

The peace of his own sonhis only son.

[CARLOS looks on the ground in silence.Is there one dearest wish that bounteous Heaven

Hath e'er withheld from her most favored child?

I stood beside, when in Toledo's walls

The lofty Charles received his vassals' homage,

When conquered princes thronged to kiss his hand,

And there at once six mighty kingdoms fell

In fealty at his feet: I stood and marked

The young, proud blood mount to his glowing cheek,

I saw his bosom swell with high resolves,

His eye, all radiant with triumphant pride,

Flash through the assembled throng; and that same eye

Confessed, "Now am I wholly satisfied!"

[CARLOS turns away.

This silent sorrow, which for eight long moons

Hath hung its shadows, prince, upon your brow

The mystery of the court, the nation's grief

Hath cost your father many a sleepless night,

And many a tear of anguish to your mother.


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CARLOS (turning hastily round).

My mother! Grant, O heaven, I may forget

How she became my mother!

DOMINGO.Gracious prince!

CARLOS (passing his hands thoughtfully over his brow).

Alas! alas! a fruitful source of woe

Have mothers been to me. My youngest act,

When first these eyes beheld the light of day,

Destroyed a mother.

DOMINGO.

Is it possible

That this reproach disturbs your conscience, prince?

CARLOS.

And my new mother! Hath she not already

Cost me my father's heart? Scarce loved at best.

My claim to some small favor lay in this

I was his only child! 'Tis over! She

Hath blest him with a daughterand who knows

What slumbering ills the future hath in store?

DOMINGO.

You jest, my prince. All Spain adores its queen.

Shall it be thought that you, of all the world,

Alone should view her with the eyes of hate

Gaze on her charms, and yet be coldly wise?

How, prince? The loveliest lady of her time,

A queen withal, and once your own betrothed?

No, no, impossibleit cannot be!

Where all men love, you surely cannot hate.

Carlos could never so belie himself.

I prithee, prince, take heed she do not learn

That she hath lost her son's regard. The news

Would pain her deeply.

CARLOS. Ay, sir! think you so?

DOMINGO.

Your highness doubtless will remember how,

At the late tournament in Saragossa,

A lance's splinter struck our gracious sire.


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The queen, attended by her ladies, sat

High in the centre gallery of the palace,

And looked upon the fight. A cry arose,

"The king! he bleeds!" Soon through the general din,

A rising murmur strikes upon her ear.

"The princethe prince!" she cries, and forward rushed,As though to leap down from the balcony,

When a voice answered, "No, the king himself!"

"Then send for his physicians!" she replied,

And straight regained her former self-composure.

[After a short pause.

But you seem wrapped in thought?

CARLOS. In wonder, sir,

That the king's merry confessor should own

So rare a skill in the romancer's art.

[Austerely.Yet have I heard it said that those

Who watch men's looks and carry tales about,

Have done more mischief in this world of ours

Than the assassin's knife, or poisoned bowl.

Your labor, Sir, hath been but ill-bestowed;

Would you win thanks, go seek them of the king.

DOMINGO.

This caution, prince, is wise. Be circumspect

With menbut not with every man alike.

Repel not friends and hypocrites together;

I mean you well, believe me!

CARLOS. Say you so?

Let not my father mark it, then, or else

Farewell your hopes forever of the purple.

DOMINGO (starts).

CARLOS.

How!

CARLOS. Even so! Hath he not promised you

The earliest purple in the gift of Spain?

DOMINGO.

You mock me, prince!

CARLOS. Nay! Heaven forefend, that I


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Should mock that awful man whose fateful lips

Can doom my father or to heaven or hell!

DOMINGO.

I dare not, prince, presume to penetrate

The sacred mystery of your secret grief,Yet I implore your highness to remember

That, for a conscience ill at ease, the church

Hath opened an asylum, of which kings

Hold not the keywhere even crimes are purged

Beneath the holy sacramental seal.

You know my meaning, princeI've said enough.

CARLOS.

No! be it, never said, I tempted so

The keeper of that seal.

DOMINGO.

Prince, this mistrust

You wrong the most devoted of your servants.

CARLOS.

Then give me up at once without a thought

Thou art a holy manthe world knows that

But, to speak plain, too zealous far for me.

The road to Peter's chair is long and rough,

And too much knowledge might encumber you.

Go, tell this to the king, who sent thee hither!

DOMINGO.

Who sent me hither?

CARLOS. Ay! Those were my words.

Too well-too well, I know, that I'm betrayed,

Slandered on every handthat at this court

A hundred eyes are hired to watch my steps.

I know, that royal Philip to his slaves

Hath sold his only son, and every wretch,

Who takes account of each half-uttered word,

Receives such princely guerdon as was ne'er

Bestowed on deeds of honor, Oh, I know

But hush!no more of that! My heart will else

O'erflow and I've already said too much.

DOMINGO.

The king is minded, ere the set of sun,


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To reach Madrid: I see the court is mustering.

Have I permission, prince?

CARLOS. I'll follow straight.

[Exit DOMINGO.

CARLOS (after a short silence).

O wretched Philip! wretched as thy son!

Soon shall thy bosom bleed at every pore,

Torn by suspicion's poisonous serpent fang.

Thy fell sagacity full soon shall pierce

The fatal secret it is bent to know,

And thou wilt madden, when it breaks upon thee!

SCENE II.

CARLOS, MARQUIS OF POSA.

CARLOS.

Lo! Who comes here? 'Tis he! O ye kind heavens,

My Roderigo!

MARQUIS. Carlos!

CARLOS. Can it be?

And is it truly thou? O yes, it is!

I press thee to my bosom, and I feel

Thy throbbing heart beat wildly 'gainst mine own.

And now all's well again. In this embrace

My sick, sad heart is comforted. I hang

Upon my Roderigo's neck!

MARQUIS. Thy heart!

Thy sick sad heart! And what is well again

What needeth to be well? Thy words amaze me.

CARLOS.

What brings thee back so suddenly from Brussels?

Whom must I thank for this most glad surprise?

And dare I ask? Whom should I thank but thee,

Thou gracious and all bounteous Providence?

Forgive me, heaven! if joy hath crazed my brain.


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Thou knewest no angel watched at Carlos' side,

And sent me this! And yet I ask who sent him.

MARQUIS.

Pardon, dear prince, if I can only meet

With wonder these tumultuous ecstacies.Not thus I looked to find Don Philip's son.

A hectic red burns on your pallid cheek,

And your lips quiver with a feverish heat.

What must I think, dear prince? No more I see

The youth of lion heart, to whom I come

The envoy of a brave and suffering people.

For now I stand not here as Roderigo

Not as the playmate of the stripling Carlos

But, as the deputy of all mankind,

I clasp thee thus:'tis Flanders that clings here

Around thy neck, appealing with my tearsTo thee for succor in her bitter need.

This land is lost, this land so dear to thee,

If Alva, bigotry's relentless tool,

Advance on Brussels with his Spanish laws.

This noble country's last faint hope depends

On thee, loved scion of imperial Charles!

And, should thy noble heart forget to beat

In human nature's cause, Flanders is lost!

CARLOS.

Then it is lost.

MARQUIS.

What do I hear? Alas!

CARLOS.

Thou speakest of times that long have passed away.

I, too, have had my visions of a Carlos,

Whose cheek would fire at freedom's glorious name,

But he, alas! has long been in his grave.

He, thou seest here, no longer is that Carlos,

Who took his leave of thee in Alcala,

Who in the fervor of a youthful heart,

Resolved, at some no distant time, to wake

The golden age in Spain! Oh, the conceit,

Though but a child's, was yet divinely fair!

Those dreams are past!

MARQUIS.


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Said you, those dreams, my prince!

And were they only dreams?

CARLOS.

Oh, let me weep,

Upon thy bosom weep these burning tears,My only friend! Not one have Inot one

In the wide circuit of this earth,not one

Far as the sceptre of my sire extends,

Far as the navies bear the flag of Spain,

There is no spotnonenone, where I dare yield

An outlet to my tears, save only this.

I charge thee, Roderigo! Oh, by all

The hopes we both do entertain of heaven,

Cast me not off from thee, my friend, my friend!

[POSA bends over him in silent emotion.

Look on me, Posa, as an orphan child,Found near the throne, and nurtured by thy love.

Indeed, I know not what a father is.

I am a monarch's son. Oh, were it so,

As my heart tells me that it surely is,

That thou from millions hast been chosen out

To comprehend my being; if it be true,

That all-creating nature has designed

In me to reproduce a Roderigo,

And on the morning of our life attuned

Our souls' soft concords to the selfsame key;

If one poor tear, which gives my heart relief,

To thee were dearer than my father's favor

MARQUIS.

Oh, it is dearer far than all the world!

CARLOS.

I'm fallen so low, have grown so poor withal,

I must recall to thee our childhood's years,

Must ask thee payment of a debt incurred

When thou and I were scarce to boyhood grown.

Dost thou remember, how we grew together,

Two daring youths, like brothers, side by side?

I had no sorrow but to see myself

Eclipsed by thy bright genius. So I vowed,

Since I might never cope with thee in power,

That I would love thee with excess of love.

Then with a thousand shows of tenderness,

And warm affection, I besieged thy heart,


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Which cold and proudly still repulsed them all.

Oft have I stood, andyet thou sawest it never

Hot bitter tear-drops brimming in mine eyes,

When I have marked thee, passing me unheeded,

Fold to thy bosom youths of humbler birth.

"Why only these?" in anguish, once I asked"Am I not kind and good to thee as they?"

But dropping on thy knees, thine answer came,

With an unloving look of cold reserve,

"This is my duty to the monarch's son!"

MARQUIS.

Oh, spare me, dearest prince, nor now recall

Those boyish acts that make me blush for shame.

CARLOS.

I did not merit such disdain from theeYou might despise me, crush my heart, but never

Alter my love. Three times didst thou repulse

The prince, and thrice he came to thee again,

To beg thy love, and force on thee his own.

At length chance wrought what Carlos never could.

Once we were playing, when thy shuttlecock

Glanced off and struck my aunt, Bohemia's queen,

Full in the face! She thought 'twas with intent,

And all in tears complained unto the king.

The palace youth were summoned on the spot,

And charged to name the culprit. High in wrath

The king vowed vengeance for the deed: "Although

It were his son, yet still should he be made

A dread example!" I looked around and marked

Thee stand aloof, all trembling with dismay.

Straight I stepped forth; before the royal feet

I flung myself, and cried, "'Twas I who did it;

Now let thine anger fall upon thy son!"

MARQUIS.

Ah, wherefore, prince, remind me?

CARLOS.

Hear me further!

Before the face of the assembled court,

That stood, all pale with pity, round about,

Thy Carlos was tied up, whipped like a slave;

I looked on thee, and wept not. Blow rained on blow;

I gnashed my teeth with pain, yet wept I not!


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My royal blood streamed 'neath the pitiless lash;

I looked on thee, and wept not. Then you came,

And fell half-choked with sobs before my feet:

"Carlos," you cried, "my pride is overcome;

I will repay thee when thou art a king."

MARQUIS (stretching forth his hand to CARLOS).

Carlos, I'll keep my word; my boyhood's vow

I now as man renew. I will repay thee.

Some day, perchance, the hour may come

CARLOS.

Now! now!

The hour has come; thou canst repay me all.

I have sore need of love. A fearful secret

Burns in my breast; it mustit must be told.

In thy pale looks my death-doom will I read.Listen; be petrified; but answer not.

I loveI lovemy mother!

MARQUIS.

O my God!

CARLOS.

Nay, no forbearance! spare me not! Speak! speak!

Proclaim aloud, that on this earth's great round

There is no misery to compare with mine.

Speak! speak!I know allall that thou canst say

The son doth love his mother. All the world's

Established usages, the course of nature,

Rome's fearful laws denounce my fatal passion.

My suit conflicts with my own father's rights,

I feel it all, and yet I love. This path

Leads on to madness, or the scaffold. I

Love without hope, love guiltily, love madly,

With anguish, and with peril of my life;

I see, I see it all, and yet I love.

MARQUIS.

The queendoes she know of your passion?

CARLOS.

Could I

Reveal it to her? She is Philip's wife

She is the queen, and this is Spanish ground,

Watched by a jealous father, hemmed around


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By ceremonial forms, how, how could I

Approach her unobserved? 'Tis now eight months,

Eight maddening months, since the king summoned me

Home from my studies, since I have been doomed

To look on her, adore her day by day,

And all the while be silent as the grave!Eight maddening months, Roderigo; think of this!

This fire has seethed and raged within my breast!

A thousand, thousand times, the dread confession

Has mounted to my lips, yet evermore

Shrunk, like a craven, back upon my heart.

O Roderigo! for a few brief moments

Alone with her!

MARQUIS.

Ah! and your father, prince!

CARLOS.

Unhappy me! Remind me not of him.

Tell me of all the torturing pangs of conscience,

But speak not, I implore you, of my father!

MARQUIS.

Then do you hate your father?

CARLOS.

No, oh, no!

I do not hate my father; but the fear

That guilty creatures feel,a shuddering dread,

Comes o'er me ever at that terrible name.

Am I to blame, if slavish nurture crushed

Love's tender germ within my youthful heart?

Six years I'd numbered, ere the fearful man,

They told me was my father, met mine eyes.

One morning 'twas, when with a stroke I saw him

Sign four death-warrants. After that I ne'er

Beheld him, save when, for some childish fault,

I was brought out for chastisement. O God!

I feel my heart grow bitter at the thought.

Let us away! away!

MARQUIS.

Nay, Carlos, nay,

You must, you shall give all your sorrow vent,

Let it have words! 'twill ease your o'erfraught heart.


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CARLOS.

Oft have I struggled with myself, and oft

At midnight, when my guards were sunk in sleep,

With floods of burning tears I've sunk before

The image of the ever-blessed Virgin,

And craved a filial heart, but all in vain.I rose with prayer unheard. O Roderigo!

Unfold this wondrous mystery of heaven,

Why of a thousand fathers only this

Should fall to meand why to him this son,

Of many thousand better? Nature could not

In her wide orb have found two opposites

More diverse in their elements. How could

She bind the two extremes of human kind

Myself and himin one so holy bond?

O dreadful fate! Why was it so decreed?

Why should two men, in all things else apart,Concur so fearfully in one desire?

Roderigo, here thou seest two hostile stars,

That in the lapse of ages, only once,

As they sweep onwards in their orbed course,

Touch with a crash that shakes them to the centre,

Then rush apart forever and forever.

MARQUIS.

I feel a dire foreboding.

CARLOS.

So do I.

Like hell's grim furies, dreams of dreadful shape

Pursue me still. My better genius strives

With the fell projects of a dark despair.

My wildered subtle spirit crawls through maze

On maze of sophistries, until at length

It gains a yawning precipice's brink.

O Roderigo! should I e'er in him

Forget the fatherah! thy deathlike look

Tells me I'm understoodshould I forget

The fatherwhat were then the king to me?

MARQUIS (after a pause).

One thing, my Carlos, let me beg of you!

Whate'er may be your plans, do nothing,nothing,

Without your friend's advice. You promise this?

CARLOS.


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All, all I promise that thy love can ask!

I throw myself entirely upon thee!

MARQUIS.

The king, I hear, is going to Madrid.

The time is short. If with the queen you wouldConverse in private, it is only here,

Here in Aranjuez, it can be done.

The quiet of the place, the freer manners,

All favor you.

CARLOS.

And such, too, was my hope;

But it, alas! was vain.

MARQUIS.

Not wholly so.I go to wait upon her. If she be

The same in Spain she was in Henry's court,

She will be frank at least. And if I can

Read any hope for Carlos in her looks

Find her inclined to grant an interview

Get her attendant ladies sent away

CARLOS.

Most of them are my friendsespecially

The Countess Mondecar, whom I have gained

By service to her son, my page.

MARQUIS.

'Tis well;

Be you at hand, and ready to appear,

Whene'er I give the signal, prince.

CARLOS.

I will,

Be sure I will:and all good speed attend thee!

MARQUIS.

I will not lose a moment; so, farewell.

[Exeunt severally.


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SCENE III.

The Queen's Residence in Aranjuez. The Pleasure Grounds,

intersected by an avenue, terminated by the Queen's Palace.

The QUEEN, DUCHESS OF OLIVAREZ, PRINCESS OF EBOLI, andMARCHIONESS

OF MONDECAR, all advancing from the avenue.

QUEEN (to the MARCHIONESS).

I will have you beside me, Mondecar.

The princess, with these merry eyes of hers,

Has plagued me all the morning. See, she scarce

Can hide the joy she feels to leave the country.

EBOLI.

'Twere idle to conceal, my queen, that IShall be most glad to see Madrid once more.

MONDECAR.

And will your majesty not be so, too?

Are you so grieved to quit Aranjuez?

QUEEN.

To quitthis lovely spot at least I am.

This is my world. Its sweetness oft and oft

Has twined itself around my inmost heart.

Here, nature, simple, rustic nature greets me,The sweet companion of my early years

Here I indulge once more my childhood's sports,

And my dear France's gales come blowing here.

Blame not this partial fondnessall hearts yearn

For their own native land.

EBOLI.

But then how lone,

How dull and lifeless it is here! We might

As well be in La Trappe.

QUEEN.

I cannot see it.

To me Madrid alone is lifeless. But

What saith our duchess to it?

OLIVAREZ.

Why, methinks,


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Your majesty, since kings have ruled in Spain,

It hath been still the custom for the court

To pass the summer months alternately

Here and at Pardo,in Madrid, the winter.

QUEEN.Well, I suppose it has! Duchess, you know

I've long resigned all argument with you.

MONDECAR.

Next month Madrid will be all life and bustle.

They're fitting up the Plaza Mayor now,

And we shall have rare bull-fights; and, besides,

A grand auto da fe is promised us.

QUEEN.

Promised? This from my gentle Mondecar!

MONDECAR.

Why not? 'Tis only heretics they burn!

QUEEN.

I hope my Eboli thinks otherwise!

EBOLI.

What, I? I beg your majesty may think me

As good a Christian as the marchioness.

QUEEN.

Alas! I had forgotten where I am,

No more of this! We were speaking, I think,

About the country? And methinks this month

Has flown away with strange rapidity.

I counted on much pleasure, very much,

From our retirement here, and yet I have not

Found that which I expected. Is it thus

With all our hopes? And yet I cannot say

One wish of mine is left ungratified.

OLIVAREZ.

You have not told us, Princess Eboli,

If there be hope for Gomez,and if we may

Expect ere long to greet you as his bride?

QUEEN.

Truethank you, duchess, for reminding me!


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[Addressing the PRINCESS.

I have been asked to urge his suit with you.

But can I do it? The man whom I reward

With my sweet Eboli must be a man

Of noble stamp indeed.

OLIVAREZ.

And such he is,

A man of mark and fairest fame,a man

Whom our dear monarch signally has graced

With his most royal favor.

QUEEN.

He's happy in

Such high good fortune; but we fain would know,

If he can love, and win return of love.

This Eboli must answer.

EBOLI (stands speechless and confused, her eyes bent on the ground;

at last she falls at the QUEEN's feet).

Gracious queen!

Have pity on me! Let melet me not,

For heaven's sake, let me not be sacrificed.

QUEEN.

Be sacrificed! I need no more. Arise!

'Tis a hard fortune to be sacrificed.

I do believe you. Rise. And is it long

Since you rejected Gomez' suit?

EBOLI.

Some months

Before Prince Carlos came from Alcala.

QUEEN (starts and looks at her with an inquisitive glance).

Have you tried well the grounds of your refusal?

EBOLI (with energy).

It cannot be, my queen, no, never, never,

For a thousand reasons, never!

QUEEN.

One's enough,

You do not love him. That suffices me.

Now let it pass.

[To her other ladies.


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I have not seen the Infanta

Yet this morning. Pray bring her, marchioness.

OLIVAREZ (looking at the clock).

It is not yet the hour, your majesty.

QUEEN.

Not yet the hour for me to be a mother!

That's somewhat hard. Forget not, then, to tell me

When the right hour does come.

[A page enters and whispers to the first lady, who

thereupon turns to the QUEEN.

OLIVAREZ.

The Marquis Posa!

May it please your majesty.

QUEEN.

The Marquis Posa!

OLIVAREZ.

He comes from France, and from the Netherlands,

And craves the honor to present some letters

Intrusted to him by your royal mother.

QUEEN.

Is this allowed?

OLIVAREZ (hesitating).

A case so unforeseen

Is not provided for in my instructions.

When a Castilian grandee, with despatches

From foreign courts, shall in her garden find

The Queen of Spain, and tender them

QUEEN.

Enough! I'll venture, then, on mine own proper peril.

OLIVAREZ.

May I, your majesty, withdraw the while?

QUEEN.

E'en as you please, good duchess!

[Exit the DUCHESS, the QUEEN gives the PAGE a sign, who


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thereupon retires.

SCENE IV.

The QUEEN, PRINCESS EBOLI, MARCHIONESS OF MONDECAR, and

MARQUIS OF POSA.

QUEEN.

I bid you welcome, sir, to Spanish ground!

MARQUIS.

Ground which I never with so just a pride

Hailed for the country of my sires as now.

QUEEN (to the two ladies).

The Marquis Posa, ladies, who at Rheims

Coped with my father in the lists, and made

My colors thrice victorious; the first

That made me feel how proud a thing it was

To be the Queen of Spain and Spanish men.

[Turning to the MARQUIS.

When we last parted in the Louvre, Sir,

You scarcely dreamed that I should ever be

Your hostess in Castile.

MARQUIS.

Most true, my liege!

For at that time I never could have dreamed

That France should lose to us the only thing

We envied her possessing.

QUEEN.

How, proud Spaniard!

The only thing! And you can venture this

This to a daughter of the house of Valois!

MARQUIS.

I venture now to say it, gracious queen,

Since now you are our own.

QUEEN.

Your journey hither

Has led you, as I hear, through France. What news


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Have you brought with you from my honored mother

And from my dearest brothers?

MARQUIS (handing letters).

I left your royal mother sick at heart,

Bereft of every joy save only this,To know her daughter happy on the throne

Of our imperial Spain.

QUEEN.

Could she be aught

But happy in the dear remembrances

Of relatives so kindin the sweet thoughts

Of the old time whenSir, you've visited

Full many a court in these your various travels,

And seen strange lands and customs manifold;

And now, they say, you mean to keep at homeA greater prince in your retired domain

Than is King Philip on his thronea freer.

You're a philosopher; but much I doubt

If our Madrid will please you. We are so

So quiet in Madrid.

MARQUIS.

And that is more

Than all the rest of Europe has to boast.

QUEEN.

I've heard as much. But all this world's concerns

Are well-nigh blotted from my memory.

[To PRINCESS EBOLI.

Princess, methinks I see a hyacinth

Yonder in bloom. Wilt bring it to me, sweet?

[The PRINCESS goes towards the palace, the QUEEN

softly to the MARQUIS.

I'm much mistaken, sir, or your arrival

Has made one heart more happy here at court.

MARQUIS.

I have found a sad oneone that in this world

A ray of sunshine

EBOLI.

As this gentleman


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Has seen so many countries, he, no doubt,

Has much of note to tell us.

MARQUIS.

Doubtless, and

To seek adventures is a knight's first dutyBut his most sacred is to shield the fair.

MONDECAR.

From giants! But there are no giants now!

MARQUIS.

Power is a giant ever to the weak.

QUEEN.

The chevalier says well. There still are giants;

But there are knights no more.

MARQUIS.

Not long ago,

On my return from Naples, I became

The witness of a very touching story,

Which ties of friendship almost make my own

Were I not fearful its recital might

Fatigue your majesty

QUEEN.

Have I a choice?

The princess is not to be lightly balked.

Proceed. I too, sir, love a story dearly.

MARQUIS.

Two noble houses in Mirandola,

Weary of jealousies and deadly feuds,

Transmitted down from Guelphs and Ghibellines,

Through centuries of hate, from sire to son,

Resolved to ratify a lasting peace

By the sweet ministry of nuptial ties.

Fernando, nephew of the great Pietro,

And fair Matilda, old Colonna's child,

Were chosen to cement this holy bond.

Nature had never for each other formed

Two fairer hearts. And never had the world

Approved a wiser or a happier choice.

Still had the youth adored his lovely bride

In the dull limner's portraiture alone.


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How thrilled his heart, then, in the hope to find

The truth of all that e'en his fondest dreams

Had scarcely dared to credit in her picture!

In Padua, where his studies held him bound;

Fernando panted for the joyful hour,

When he might murmur at Matilda's feetThe first pure homage of his fervent love.

[The QUEEN grows more attentive; the MARQUIS continues, after

a short pause, addressing himself chiefly to PRINCESS EBOLI.

Meanwhile the sudden death of Pietro's wife

Had left him free to wed. With the hot glow

Of youthful blood the hoary lover drinks

The fame that reached him of Matilda's charms.

He comeshe seeshe loves! The new desire

Stifles the voice of nature in his heart.The uncle woos his nephew's destined bride,

And at the altar consecrates his theft.

QUEEN.

And what did then Fernando?

MARQUIS.

On the wings

Of Jove, unconscious of the fearful change,

Delirious with the promised joy, he speeds

Back to Mirandola. His flying steed

By starlight gains the gate. Tumultuous sounds

Of music, dance, and jocund revelry

Ring from the walls of the illumined palace.

With faltering steps he mounts the stair; and now

Behold him in the crowded nuptial hall,

Unrecognized! Amid the reeling guests

Pietro sat. An angel at his side

An angel, whom he knows, and who to him

Even in his dreams, seemed ne'er so beautiful.

A single glance revealed what once was his

Revealed what now was lost to him forever.

EBOLI.

O poor Fernando!

QUEEN.

Surely, sir, your tale

Is ended? Nay, it must be.


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MARQUIS.

No, not quite.

QUEEN.

Did you not say Fernando was your friend?

MARQUIS.

I have no dearer in the world.

EBOLI.

But pray

Proceed, sir, with your story.

MARQUIS.

Nay, the rest

Is very sadand to recall it setsMy sorrow fresh abroach. Spare me the sequel.

[A general silence.

QUEEN (turning to the PRINCESS EBOLI).

Surely the time is come to see my daughter,

I prithee, princess, bring her to me now!

[The PRINCESS withdraws. The MARQUIS beckons a Page. The QUEEN

opens the letters, and appears surprised. The MARQUIS talks with

MARCHIONESS MONDECAR. The QUEEN having read the letters, turns

to

the MARQUIS with a penetrating look.

QUEEN.

You have not spoken of Matilda! She

Haply was ignorant of Fernando's grief?

MARQUIS.

Matilda's heart has no one fathomed yet

Great souls endure in silence.

QUEEN.

You look around you. Who is it you seek?

MARQUIS.

Just then the thought came over me, how one,

Whose name I dare not mention, would rejoice,

Stood he where I do now.


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QUEEN.

And who's to blame,

That he does not?

MARQUIS (interrupting her eagerly).My liege! And dare I venture

To interpret thee, as fain I would? He'd find

Forgiveness, then, if now he should appear.

QUEEN (alarmed).

Now, marquis, now? What do you mean by this?

MARQUIS.

Might he, then, hope?

QUEEN.You terrify me, marquis.

Surely he will not

MARQUIS.

He is here already.

SCENE V.

The QUEEN, CARLOS, MARQUIS POSA, MARCHIONESS

MONDECAR.

The two latter go towards the avenue.

CARLOS (on his knees before the QUEEN).

At length 'tis comethe happy moment's come,

And Charles may touch this all-beloved hand.

QUEEN.

What headlong folly's this? And dare you break

Into my presence thus? Arise, rash man!We are observed; my suite are close at hand.

CARLOS.

I will not rise. Here will I kneel forever,

Here will I lie enchanted at your feet,

And grow to the dear ground you tread on?


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QUEEN.

Madman! To what rude boldness my indulgence leads!

Know you, it is the queen, your mother, sir,

Whom you address in such presumptuous strain?

Know, that myself will to the king report

This bold intrusion

CARLOS.

And that I must die!

Let them come here, and drag me to the scaffold!

A moment spent in paradise like this

Is not too dearly purchased by a life.

QUEEN.

But then your queen?

CARLOS (rising).

O God, I'll go, I'll go!

Can I refuse to bend to that appeal?

I am your very plaything. Mother, mother,

A sign, a transient glance, one broken word

From those dear lips can bid me live or die.What would you more? Is there beneath the sun

One thing I would not haste to sacrifice

To meet your lightest wish?

QUEEN.

Then fly!

CARLOS.

God!

QUEEN.With tears I do conjure you, Carlos, fly!

I ask no more. O fly! before my court,

My guards, detecting us alone together,

Bear the dread tidings to your father's ear.

CARLOS.

I bide my doom, or be it life or death.


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Have I staked every hope on this one moment,

Which gives thee to me thus at length alone,

That idle fears should balk me of my purpose?

No, queen! The world may round its axis roll

A hundred thousand times, ere chance again

Yield to my prayers a moment such as this.

QUEEN.

It never shall to all eternity.

Unhappy man! What would you ask of me?

CARLOS.

Heaven is my witness, queen, how I have struggled,

Struggled as mortal never did before,

But all in vain! My manhood failsI yield.

QUEEN.No more of thisfor my sakefor my peace.

CARLOS.

You were mine own,in face of all the world,

Affianced to me by two mighty crowns,

By heaven and nature plighted as my bride,

But Philip, cruel Philip, stole you from me!

QUEEN.

He is your father?

CARLOS.

And he is your husband!

QUEEN.

And gives to you for an inheritance,

The mightiest monarchy in all the world.

CARLOS.

And you, as mother!

QUEEN.

Mighty heavens! You rave!

CARLOS.

And is he even conscious of his treasure?

Hath he a heart to feel and value yours?

I'll not complainno, no, I will forget,

How happy, past all utterance, I might


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Have been with you,if he were only so.

But he is notthere, there, the anguish lies!

He is not, and he nevernever can be.

Oh, you have robbed me of my paradise,

Only to blast it in King Philip's arms!

QUEEN.

Horrible thought!

CARLOS.

Oh, yes, right well I know

Who 'twas that knit this ill-starred marriage up.

I know how Philip loves, and how he wooed.

What are you in this kingdomtell me, what?

Regent, belike! Oh, no! If such you were,

How could fell Alvas act their murderous deeds,

Or Flanders bleed a martyr for her faith?Are you even Philip's wife? Impossible,

Beyond belief. A wife doth still possess

Her husband's heart. To whom doth his belong?

If ever, perchance, in some hot feverish mood,

He yields to gentler impulse, begs he not

Forgiveness of his sceptre and gray hairs?

QUEEN.

Who told you that my lot, at Philip's side

Was one for men to pity?

CARLOS.

My own heart!

Which feels, with burning pangs, how at my side

It had been to be envied.

QUEEN.

Thou vain man!

What if my heart should tell me the reverse?

How, sir, if Philip's watchful tenderness,

The looks that silently proclaim his love,

Touched me more deeply than his haughty son's

Presumptuous eloquence? What, if an old man's

Matured esteem

CARLOS.

That makes a difference! Then,

Why then, forgiveness!I'd no thought of this;

I had no thought that you could love the king.


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QUEEN.

To honor him's my pleasure and my wish.

CARLOS.

Then you have never loved?

QUEEN.

Singular question!

CARLOS.

Then you have never loved?

QUEEN.

I love no longer!

CARLOS.Because your heart forbids it, or your oath?

QUEEN.

Leave me; nor never touch this theme again.

CARLOS.

Because your oath forbids it, or your heart?

QUEEN.

Because my dutybut, alas, alas!

To what avails this scrutiny of fate,

Which we must both obey?

CARLOS.

Mustmust obey?

QUEEN.

What means this solemn tone?

CARLOS.

Thus much it means

That Carlos is not one to yield to must

Where he hath power to will! It means, besides,

'That Carlos is not minded to live on,

The most unhappy man in all his realm,

When it would only cost the overthrow

Of Spanish laws to be the happiest.

QUEEN.


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Do I interpret rightly? Still you hope?

Dare you hope on, when all is lost forever?

CARLOS.

I look on naught as lostexcept the dead.

QUEEN.

For meyour mother, do you dare to hope?

[She fixes a penetrating look on him, then continues

with dignity and earnestness.

And yet why not? A new elected monarch

Can do far moremake bonfires of the laws

His father lefto'erthrow his monuments

Nay, more than thisfor what shall hinder him?

Drag from his tomb, in the Escurial,The sacred corpse of his departed sire,

Make it a public spectacle, and scatter

Forth to the winds his desecrated dust.

And then, at last, to fill the measure up

CARLOS.

Merciful heavens, finish not the picture!

QUEEN.

End all by wedding with his mother.

CARLOS.

Oh!

Accursed son!

[He remains for some time paralyzed and speechless.

Yes, now 'tis out, 'tis out!

I see it clear as day. Oh, would it had

Been veiled from me in everlasting darkness!

Yes, thou art gone from megonegone forever.

The die is cast; and thou art lost to me.

Oh, in that thought lies hell; and a hell, too,

Lies in the other thought, to call thee mine.

Oh, misery! I can bear my fate no longer,

My very heart-strings strain as they would burst.

QUEEN.

Alas, alas! dear Charles, I feel it all,

The nameless pang that rages in your breast;

Your pangs are infinite, as is your love,


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And infinite as both will be the glory

Of overmastering both. Up, be a man,

Wrestle with them boldly. The prize is worthy

Of a young warrior's high, heroic heart;

Worthy of him in whom the virtues flow

Of a long ancestry of mighty kings.Courage! my noble prince! Great Charles's grandson

Begins the contest with undaunted heart,

Where sons of meaner men would yield at once.

CARLOS.

Too late, too late! O God, it is too late!

QUEEN.

Too late to be a man! O Carlos, Carlos!

How nobly shows our virtue when the heart

Breaks in its exercise! The hand of HeavenHas set you up on high,far higher, prince,

Than millions of your brethren. All she took

From others she bestowed with partial hand

On thee, her favorite; and millions ask,

What was your merit, thus before your birth

To be endowed so far above mankind?

Up, then, and justify the ways of Heaven;

Deserve to take the lead of all the world,

And make a sacrifice ne'er made before.

CARLOS.

I will, I will; I have a giant's strength

To win your favor; but to lose you, none.

QUEEN.

Confess, my Carlos, I have harshly read thee;

It is but spoken, and waywardness, and pride,

Attract you thus so madly to your mother!

The heart you lavish on myself belongs

To the great empire you one day shall rule.

Look that you sport not with your sacred trust!

Love is your high vocation; until now

It hath been wrongly bent upon your mother:

Oh, lead it back upon your future realms,

And so, instead of the fell stings of conscience,

Enjoy the bliss of being more than man.

Elizabeth has been your earliest love,

Your second must be Spain. How gladly, Carlos,

Will I give place to this more worthy choice!


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CARLOS (overpowered by emotion, throws himself at her feet).

How great thou art, my angel! Yes, I'll do

All, all thou canst desire. So let it be.

[He rises.

Here in the sight of heaven I stand and swearI swear to thee, eternalno, great Heaven!

Eternal silence only,not oblivion!

QUEEN.

How can I ask from you what I myself

Am not disposed to grant?

MARQUIS (hastening from the alley).

The king!

QUEEN. Oh God!

MARQUIS.

Away, away! fly from these precincts, prince!

QUEEN.

His jealousy is dreadfulshould he see you

CARLOS.

I'll stay.

QUEEN.

And who will be the victim then?

CARLOS (seizing the MARQUIS by the arm).

Away, away! Come, Roderigo, come!

[Goes and returns.

What may I hope to carry hence with me?

QUEEN.

Your mother's friendship.

CARLOS.

Friendship! Mother!

QUEEN.

And

These tears with itthey're from the Netherlands.


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[She gives him some letters. Exit CARLOS with the MARQUIS.

The QUEEN looks restlessly round in search of her ladies,

who are nowhere to be seen. As she is about to retire up,

the KING enters.

SCENE VI.

The KING, the QUEEN, DUKE ALVA, COUNT LERMA, DOMINGO,

LADIES, GRANDEES, who remain at a little distance.

KING.

How, madam, alone; not even one of all

Your ladies in attendance? Strange! Where are they?

QUEEN.

My gracious lord!

KING.

Why thus alone, I say?

[To his attendants.

I'll take a strict account of this neglect.

'Tis not to be forgiven. Who has the charge

Of waiting on your majesty to-day?

QUEEN.Oh, be not angry! Good, my lord, 'tis I

Myself that am to blameat my request

The Princess Eboli went hence but now.

KING.

At your request!

QUEEN.

To call the nurse to me,

With the Infanta, whom I longed to see.

KING.

And was your retinue dismissed for that?

This only clears the lady first in waiting.

Where was the second?

MONDECAR (who has returned and mixed with the other ladies,

steps forward).


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Your majesty, I feel

I am to blame for this.

KING.

You are, and so

I give you ten years to reflect upon it,At a most tranquil distance from Madrid.

[The MARCHIONESS steps back weeping. General silence.

The bystanders all look in confusion towards the QUEEN.

QUEEN.

What weep you for, dear marchioness?

[To the KING.

If I

Have erred, my gracious liege, the crown I wear,

And which I never sought, should save my blushesIs there a law in this your kingdom, sire,

To summon monarch's daughters to the bar?

Does force alone restrain your Spanish ladies?

Or need they stronger safeguard than their virtue?

Now pardon me, my liege; 'tis not my wont

To send my ladies, who have served me still

With smiling cheerfulness, away in tears.

Here, Mondecar.

[She takes off her girdle and presents it to the MARCHIONESS.

You have displeased the king,

Not me. Take this remembrance of my favor,

And of this hour. I'd have you quit the kingdom.

You have only erred in Spain. In my dear France,

All men are glad to wipe such tears away.

And must I ever be reminded thus?

In my dear France it had been otherwise.

[Leaning on the MARCHIONESS and covering her face.

KING.

Can a reproach, that in my love had birth,

Afflict you so? A word so trouble you,

Which the most anxious tenderness did prompt?

[He turns towards the GEANDEES.

Here stand the assembled vassals of my throne.

Did ever sleep descend upon these eyes,

Till at the close of the returning day


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I've pondered, how the hearts of all my subjects

Were beating 'neath the furthest cope of heaven?

And should I feel more anxious for my throne

Than for the partner of my bosom? No!

My sword and Alva can protect my people,

My eye alone assures thy love.

QUEEN.

My liege,

If that I have offended

KING.

I am called

The richest monarch in the Christian world;

The sun in my dominions never sets.

All this another hath possessed before,

And many another will possess hereafter.That is mine own. All that the monarch hath

Belongs to chanceElizabeth to Philip.

This is the point in which I feel I'm mortal.

QUEEN.

What fear you, sire?

KING.

Should these gray hairs not fear?

But the same instant that my fear begins

It dies away forever.

[To the grandees.

I run over

The nobles of my court and miss the foremost.

Where is my son, Don Carlos?

[No one answers.

He begins

To give me cause of fear. He shuns my presence

Since he came back from school at Alcala.

His blood is hot. Why is his look so cold?

His bearing all so stately and reserved?

Be watchful, duke, I charge you.

ALVA.

So I am:

Long as a heart against this corslet beats,

So long may Philip slumber undisturbed;

And as God's cherub guards the gates of heaven

So doth Duke Alva guard your royal throne.


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LERMA.

Dare I, in all humility, presume

To oppose the judgment of earth's wisest king?

Too deeply I revere his gracious sire

To judge the son so harshly. I fear muchFrom his hot blood, but nothing from his heart.

KING.

Lerma, your speech is fair to soothe the father,

But Alva here will be the monarch's shield

No more of this.

[Turning to his suite.

Now speed we to Madrid,

Our royal duties summon us. The plague

Of heresy is rife among my people;

Rebellion stalks within my NetherlandsThe times are imminent. We must arrest

These erring spirits by some dread example.

The solemn oath which every Christian king

Hath sworn to keep I will redeem to-morrow.

'Twill be a day of doom unparalleled.

Our court is bidden to the festival.

[He leads off the QUEEN, the rest follow.

SCENE VII.

DON CARLOS (with letters in his hand), and MARQUIS POSA

enter from opposite sides.

CARLOS.

I am resolvedFlanders shall yet be saved:

So runs her suit, and that's enough for me!

MARQUIS.There's not another moment to be lost:

'Tis said Duke Alva in the cabinet

Is named already as the governor.

CARLOS.

Betimes to-morrow will I see the king

And ask this office for myself. It is


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The first request I ever made to him,

And he can scarce refuse. My presence here

Has long been irksome to him. He will grasp

This fair pretence my absence to secure.

And shall I confess to thee, Roderigo?

My hopes go further. Face to face with him,'Tis possible the pleading of a son

May reinstate him in his father's favor.

He ne'er hath heard the voice of nature speak;

Then let me try for once, my Roderigo,

What power she hath when breathing from my lips.

MARQUIS.

Now do I hear my Carlos' voice once more;

Now are you all yourself again!

SCENE VIII.

The preceding. COUNT LERMA.

COUNT.

Your grace,

His majesty has left Aranjuez;

And I am bidden

CARLOS.

Very well, my lord

I shall overtake the king

MARQUIS (affecting to take leave with ceremony).

Your highness, then,

Has nothing further to intrust to me?

CARLOS.

Nothing. A pleasant journey to Madrid!

You may, hereafter, tell me more of Flanders.

[To LERMA, who is waiting for him.

Proceed, my lord! I'll follow thee anon.


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SCENE IX.

DON CARLOS, MARQUIS POSA.

CARLOS.

I understood thy hint, and thank thee for it.A stranger's presence can alone excuse

This forced and measured tone. Are we not brothers?

In future, let this puppet-play of rank

Be banished from our friendship. Think that we

Had met at some gay masking festival,

Thou in the habit of a slave, and I

Robed, for a jest, in the imperial purple.

Throughout the revel we respect the cheat,

And play our parts with sportive earnestness,

Tripping it gayly with the merry throng;

But should thy Carlos beckon through his mask,Thou'dst press his hand in silence as he passed,

And we should be as one.

MARQUIS.

The dream's divine!

But are you sure that it will last forever?

Is Carlos, then, so certain of himself

As to despise the charms of boundless sway?

A day will comean all-important day

When this heroic mindI warn you now

Will sink o'erwhelmed by too severe a test.Don Philip dies; and Carlos mounts the throne,

The mightiest throne in Christendom. How vast

The gulf that yawns betwixt mankind and him

A god to-day, who yesterday was man!

Steeled to all human weaknessto the voice

Of heavenly duty deaf. Humanity

To-day a word of import in his ear

Barters itself, and grovels 'mid the throng

Of gaping parasites; his sympathy

For human woe is turned to cold neglect,

His virtue sunk in loose voluptuous joys.Peru supplies him riches for his folly,

His court engenders devils for his vices.

Lulled in this heaven the work of crafty slaves,

He sleeps a charmed sleep; and while his dream

Endures his godhead lasts. And woe to him

Who'd break in pity this lethargic trance!

What could Roderigo do? Friendship is true,


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And bold as true. But her bright flashing beams

Were much too fierce for sickly majesty:

You would not brook a subject's stern appeal,

Nor I a monarch's pride!

CARLOS.Tearful and true,

Thy portraiture of monarchs. Yesthou'rt right,

But 'tis their lusts that thus corrupt their hearts,

And hurry them to vice. I still am pure.

A youth scarce numbering three-and-twenty years.

What thousands waste in riotous delights,

Without remorsethe mind's more precious part

The bloom and strength of manhoodI have kept,

Hoarding their treasures for the future king.

What could unseat my Posa from my heart,

If woman fail to do it?

MARQUIS.

I, myself!

Say, could I love you, Carlos, warm as now,

If I must fear you?

CARLOS.

That will never be.

What need hast thou of me? What cause hast thou

To stoop thy knee, a suppliant at the throne?

Does gold allure thee? Thou'rt a richer subject

Than I shall be a king! Dost covet honors?

E'en in thy youth, fame's brimming chalice stood

Full in thy graspthou flung'st the toy away.

Which of us, then, must be the other's debtor,

And which the creditor? Thou standest mute.

Dost tremble for the trial? Art thou, then,

Uncertain of thyself?

MARQUIS.

Carlos, I yield!

Here is my band.

CARLOS.

Is it mine own?

MARQUIS.

Forever

In the most pregnant meaning of the word!


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CARLOS.

And wilt thou prove hereafter to the king

As true and warm as to the prince to-day?

MARQUIS.I swear!

CARLOS.

And when round my unguarded heart

The serpent flattery winds its subtle coil,

Should e'er these eyes of mine forget the tears

They once were wont to shed; or should these ears

Be closed to mercy's plea,say, wilt thou, then,

The fearless guardian of my virtue, throw

Thine iron grasp upon me, and call up

My genius by its mighty name?

MARQUIS.

I will.

CARLOS.

And now one other favor let me beg.

Do call me thou! Long have I envied this

Dear privilege of friendship to thine equals.

The brother's thou beguiles my ear, my heart,

With sweet suggestions of equality.

Nay, no reply:I guess what thou wouldst say

To thee this seems a triflebut to me,

A monarch's son, 'tis much. Say, wilt thou be

A brother to me?

MARQUIS.

Yes; thy brother, yes!

CARLOS.

Now to the kingmy fears are at an end.

Thus, arm-in-arm with thee, I dare defy

The universal world into the lists.

[Exeunt.


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ACT II.

SCENE I.

The royal palace at Madrid.

KING PHILIP under a canopy; DUKE ALVA at some distance,

with his head covered; CARLOS.

CARLOS.

The kingdom takes precedencewillingly

Doth Carlos to the minister give placeHe speaks for Spain; I am but of the household.

[Bows and steps backward.

KING.

The duke remainsthe Infanta may proceed.

CARLOS (turning to ALVA).

Then must I put it to your honor, sir,

To yield my father for a while to me.

A son, you know, may to a father's earUnbosom much, in fulness of his heart,

That not befits a stranger's ear. The king

Shall not be taken from you, sirI seek

The father only for one little hour.

KING.

Here stands his friend.

CARLOS.

And have I e'er deserved

To think the duke should be a friend of mine?

KING.

Or tried to make him one? I scarce can love

Those sons who choose more wisely than their fathers.

CARLOS.

And can Duke Alva's knightly spirit brook


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To look on such a scene? Now, as I live,

I would not play the busy meddler's part,

Who thrusts himself, unasked, 'twixt sire and son,

And there intrudes without a blush, condemned

By his own conscious insignificance,

No, not, by heaven, to win a diadem!

KING (rising, with an angry look at the Prince).

Retire, my lord!

[ALVA goes to the principal door, through which CARLOS

had entered, the KING points to the other.

No, to the cabinet,

Until I call you.

SCENE II.

KING PHILIP. DON CARLOS.

CARLOS (as soon as the DUKE has left the apartment, advances to the KING,

throws himself at his feet, and then, with great emotion).

My father once again!

Thanks, endless thanks, for this unwonted favor!

Your hand, my father! O delightful day!The rapture of this kiss has long been strange

To your poor Carlos. Wherefore have I been

Shut from my father's heart? What have I done?

KING.

Carlos, thou art a novice in these arts

Forbear, I like them not

CARLOS (rising).

And is it so?

I hear your courtiers in those words, my father!All is not well, by heaven, all is not true,

That a priest says, and a priest's creatures plot.

I am not wicked, father; ardent blood

Is all my failing;all my crime is youth;

Wicked I am notno, in truth, not wicked;

Though many an impulse wild assails my heart,

Yet is it still untainted.


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KING.

Ay, 'tis pure

I know itlike thy prayers

CARLOS.Now, then, or never!

We are, for once, alonethe barrier

Of courtly form, that severed sire and son

Has fallen! Now a golden ray of hope

Illumes my soula sweet presentment

Pervades my heartand heaven itself inclines,

With choirs of joyous angels, to the earth,

And full of soft emotion, the thrice blest

Looks down upon this great, this glorious scene!

Pardon, my father!

[He falls on his knees before him.

KING.

Rise, and leave me.

CARLOS.

Father!

KING (tearing himself from him).

This trifling grows too bold.

CARLOS.

A son's devotion

Too bold! Alas!

KING.

And, to crown all, in tears!

Degraded boy! Away, and quit my sight!

CARLOS.

Now, then, or never!pardon, O my father!

KING.

Away, and leave my sight! Return to me

Disgraced, defeated, from the battle-field,

Thy sire shall meet thee with extended arms:

But thus in tears, I spurn thee from my feet.

A coward's guilt alone should wash its stains

In such ignoble streams. The man who weeps


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Without a blush will ne'er want cause for tears!

CARLOS.

Who is this man? By what mistake of nature

Has he thus strayed amongst mankind? A tear

Is man's unerring, lasting attribute.Whose eye is dry was ne'er of woman born!

Oh, teach the eye that ne'er hath overflowed,

The timely science of a tearthou'lt need

The moist relief in some dark hour of woo.

KING.

Think'st thou to shake thy father's strong mistrust

With specious words?

CARLOS.

Mistrust! Then I'll remove it.Here will I hang upon my father's breast,

Strain at his heart with vigor, till each shred

Of that mistrust, which, with a rock's endurance,

Clings firmly round it, piecemeal fall away.

And who are they who drive me from the king

My father's favor? What requital hath

A monk to give a father for a son?

What compensation can the duke supply

For a deserted and a childless age?

Would'st thou be loved? Here in this bosom springs

A fresher, purer fountain, than e'er flowed

From those dark, stagnant, muddy reservoirs,

Which Philip's gold must first unlock.

KING.

No more,

Presuming boy! For know the hearts thou slanderest

Are the approved, true servants of my choice.

'Tis meet that thou do honor to them.

CARLOS.

Never!

I know my worthall that your Alva dares

That, and much more, can Carlos. What cares he,

A hireling! for the welfare of the realm

That never can be his? What careth he

If Philip's hair grow gray with hoary age?

Your Carlos would have loved you:Oh, I dread

To think that you the royal throne must fill


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Deserted and alone.

KING (seemingly struck by this idea, stands in deep thought; after

a pause).

I am alone!

CARLOS (approaching him with eagerness).

You have been so till now. Hate me no more,

And I will love you dearly as a son:

But hate me now no longer! Oh, how sweet,

Divinely sweet it is to feel our being

Reflected in another's beauteous soul;

To see our joys gladden another's cheek,

Our pains bring anguish to another's bosom,

Our sorrows fill another's eye with tears!

How sweet, how glorious is it, hand in hand,

With a dear child, in inmost soul beloved,To tread once more the rosy paths of youth,

And dream life's fond illusions o'er again!

How proud to live through endless centuries

Immortal in the virtues of a son;

How sweet to plant what his dear hand shall reap;

To gather what will yield him rich return,

And guess how high his thanks will one day rise!

My father of this early paradise

Your monks most wisely speak not.

KING (not without emotion).

Oh, my son,

Thou hast condemned thyself in painting thus

A bliss this heart hath ne'er enjoyed from thee.

CARLOS.

The Omniscient be my judge! You till this hour

Have still debarred me from your heart, and all

Participation in your royal cares.

The heir of Spain has been a very stranger

In Spanish landa prisoner in the realm

Where he must one day rule. Say, was this just,

Or kind? And often have I blushed for shame,

And stood with eyes abashed, to learn perchance

From foreign envoys, or the general rumor,

Thy courtly doings at Aranjuez.

KING.

Thy blood flows far too hotly in thy veins.


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Thou would'st but ruin all.

CARLOS.

But try me, father.

'Tis true my blood flows hotly in my veins.

Full three-and-twenty years I now have lived,And naught achieved for immortality.

I am arousedI feel my inward powers

My title to the throne arouses me

From slumber, like an angry creditor;

And all the misspent hours of early youth,

Like debts of honor, clamor in mine ears.

It comes at length, the glorious moment comes

That claims full interest on the intrusted talent.

The annals of the world, ancestral fame,

And glory's echoing trumpet urge me on.

Now is the blessed hour at length arrivedThat opens wide to me the list of honor.

My king, my father! dare I utter now

The suit which led me hither?

KING.

Still a suit?

Unfold it.

CARLOS.

The rebellion in Brabant

Increases to a heightthe traitor's madness

By stern, but prudent, vigor must be met.

The duke, to quell the wild enthusiasm,

Invested with the sovereign's power, will lead

An army into Flanders. Oh, how full

Of glory is such office! and how suited

To open wide the temple of renown

To me, your son! To my hand, then, O king,

Intrust the army; in thy Flemish lands

I am well loved, and I will freely gage

My life for their fidelity and truth.

KING.

Thou speakest like a dreamer. This high office

Demands a manand not a stripling's arm.

CARLOS.

It but demands a human being, father:

And that is what Duke Alva ne'er hath been.


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KING.

Terror alone can tie rebellion's hands:

Humanity were madness. Thy soft soul

Is tender, son: they'll tremble at the duke.

Desist from thy request.

CARLOS.

Despatch me, sire,

To Flanders with the armydare rely

E'en on my tender soul. The name of prince,

The royal name emblazoned on my standard,

Conquers where Alva's butchers but dismay.

Here on my knees I crave itthis the first

Petition of my life. Trust Flanders to me.

KING (contemplating CARLOS with a piercing look).Trust my best army to thy thirst for rule,

And put a dagger in my murderer's hand!

CARLOS.

Great God! and is this allis this the fruit

Of a momentous hour so long desired!

[After some thought, in a milder tone.

Oh, speak to me more kindlysend me not

Thus comfortless awaydismiss me not

With this afflicting answer, oh, my father!

Use me more tenderly, indeed, I need it.

This is the last resource of wild despair

It conquers every power of firm resolve

To beat it as a manthis deep contempt

My every suit denied: Let me away

Unheard and foiled in all my fondest hopes,

I take my leave. Now Alva and Domingo

May proudly sit in triumph where your son

Lies weeping in the dust. Your crowd of courtiers,

And your long train of cringing, trembling nobles,

Your tribe of sallow monks, so deadly pale,

All witnessed how you granted me this audience.

Let me not be disgraced. Oh, strike me not

With this most deadly woundnor lay me bare

To sneering insolence of menial taunts!

"That strangers riot on your bounty, whilst

Carlos, your son, may supplicate in vain."

And as a pledge that you would have me honored,

Despatch me straight to Flanders with the army.


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KING.

Urge thy request no fartheras thou wouldst

Avoid the king's displeasure.

CARLOS.I must brave

My king's displeasure, and prefer my suit

Once more, it is the last. Trust Flanders to me!

I must away from Spain. To linger here

Is to draw breath beneath the headsman's axe:

The air lies heavy on me in Madrid

Like murder on a guilty soula change,

An instant change of clime alone can cure me.

If you would save my life, despatch me straight

Without delay to Flanders.

KING (with affected coldness).

Invalids,

Like thee, my sonneed not be tended close,

And ever watched by the physician's eye

Thou stayest in Spainthe duke will go to Flanders.

CARLOS (wildly).

Assist me, ye good angels!

KING (starting).

Hold, what mean

Those looks so wild?

CARLOS.

Father, do you abide

Immovably by this determination?

KING.

It was the king's.

CARLOS.

Then my commission's done.

[Exit in violent emotion.

SCENE III.


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King, sunk in gloomy contemplation, walks a few steps

up and down; Alva approaches with embarrassment.

KING.

Hold yourself ready to depart for Brussels

Upon a moment's notice.

ALVA.

All is prepared, my liege.

KING.

And your credentials

Lie ready sealed within my cabinet,

Meanwhile obtain an audience of the queen,

And bid the prince farewell.

ALVA. As I came in

I met him with a look of frenzy wild

Quitting the chamber; and your majesty

Is strangely moved, methinks, and bears the marks

Of deep excitementcan it be the theme

Of your discourse

KING.

Concerned the Duke of Alva.

[The KING keeps his eye steadfastly fixed on him.

I'm pleased that Carlos hates my councillors,

But I'm disturbed that he despises them.

[ALVA, coloring deeply, is about to speak.

No answer now: propitiate the prince.

ALVA.

Sire!

KING.

Tell me who it was that warned me first

Of my son's dark designs? I listened then

To you, and not to him. I will have proof.

And for the future, mark me, Carlos stands

Nearer the thronenow dukeyou may retire.

[The KING retires into his cabinet. Exit DUKE by another door.


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SCENE IV.

The antechamber to the QUEEN'S apartments. DON CARLOS enters in

conversation with a PAGE. The attendants retire at his approach.

CARLOS.For me this letter? And a key! How's this?

And both delivered with such mystery!

Come nearer, boy:from whom didst thou receive them?

PAGE (mysteriously).

It seemed to me the lady would be guessed

Rather than be described.

CARLOS (starting).

The lady, what!

Who art thou, boy?

[Looking earnestly at the PAGE.

PAGE.

A page that serves the queen.

CARLOS (affrighted, putting his hand to the PAGE's mouth).

Hold, on your life! I know enough: no more.

[He tears open the letter hastily, and retires to read it; meanwhile

DUKE ALVA comes, and passing the Prince, goes unperceived by himinto the QUEEN'S apartment, CARLOS trembles violently and changes

color; when he has read the letter he remains a long time

speechless, his eyes steadfastly fixed on it; at last he turns to

the PAGE.

She gave you this herself?

PAGE.

With her own hands.

CARLOS.She gave this letter to you then herself?

Deceive me not: I ne'er have seen her writing,

And I must credit thee, if thou canst swear it;

But if thy tale be false, confess it straight,

Nor put this fraud on me.

PAGE.


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This fraud, on whom?

CARLOS (looking once more at the letter, then at the PAGE with doubt

and earnestness).

Your parentsare they living? and your father

Serves he the king? Is he a Spaniard born?

PAGE.

He fell a colonel on St. Quentin's field,

Served in the cavalry of Savoy's duke

His name Alonzo, Count of Henarez.

CARLOS (taking his hand, and looking fixedly in his eyes).

The king gave you this letter?

PAGE (with emotion).

Gracious prince,Have I deserved these doubts?

CARLOS (reading the letter).

"This key unlocks

The back apartments in the queen's pavilion,

The furthest room lies next a cabinet

Wherein no listener's foot dare penetrate;

Here may the voice of love without restraint

Confess those tender feelings, which till now

The heart with silent looks alone hath spoken.

The timid lover gains an audience here,

And sweet reward repays his secret sorrow."

[As if awakening from a reverie.

I am not in a dream, do not rave,

This is my right hand, this my swordand these

Are written words. 'Tis trueit is no dream.

I am beloved, I feel I am beloved.

[Unable to contain himself, he rushes hastily through the room,

and raises his arms to heaven.

PAGE.

Follow me, prince, and I will lead the way.

CARLOS.

Then let me first collect my scattered thoughts.

The alarm of joy still trembles in my bosom.


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Did I e'er lift my fondest hopes so high,

Or trust my fancy to so bold a flight?

Show me the man can learn thus suddenly

To be a god. I am not what I was.

I feel another heavenanother sun

That was not here before. She lovesshe loves me!

PAGE (leading him forward).

But this is not the place: prince! you forget.

CARLOS.

The king! My father!

[His arms sink, he casts a timid look around, then

collecting himself.

This is dreadful! Yes,You're right, my friend. I thank you: I was not

Just then myself. To be compelled to silence,

And bury in my heart this mighty bliss,

Is terrible!

[Taking the PAGE by the hand, and leading him aside.

Now here! What thou hast seen,

And what not seen, must be within thy breast

Entombed as in the grave. So now depart;

I shall not need thy guidance; they must not

Surprise us here! Now go.

[The PAGE is about to depart.

Yet hold, a word!

[The PAGE returns. CARLOS lays his hand on his shoulder, and looks

him steadily in the face.

A direful secret hast thou in thy keeping,

Which, like a poison of terrific power,

Shivers the cup that holds it into atoms.

Guard every look of thine, nor let thy head

Guess at thy bosom's secret. Be thou like

The senseless speaking-trumpet that receives

And echoes back the voice, but hears it not.

Thou art a boy! Be ever so; continue

The pranks of youth. My correspondent chose


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Her messenger of love with prudent skill!

The king will ne'er suspect a serpent here.

PAGE.

And I, my prince, shall feel right proud to know

I am one secret richer than the king.

CARLOS.

Vain, foolish boy! 'tis this should make thee tremble.

Approach me ever with a cold respect:

Ne'er be induced by idle pride to boast

How gracious is the prince! No deadlier sin

Canst thou commit, my son, than pleasing me.

Whate'er thou hast in future for my ear,

Give not to words; intrust not to thy lips,

Ne'er on that common high road of the thoughts

Permit thy news to travel. Speak with an eye,A finger; I will answer with a look.

The very air, the light, are Philip's creatures,

And the deaf walls around are in his pay.

Some one approaches; fly, we'll meet again.

[The QUEEN'S chamber opens, and DUKE ALVA comes out.

PAGE.

Be careful, prince, to find the right apartment.

[Exit.

CARLOS.

It is the duke! Fear not, I'll find the way.

SCENE V.

DON CARLOS. DUDE OF ALVA.

ALVA (meeting him).Two words, most gracious prince.

CARLOS.

Some other time.

[Going.


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ALVA.

The place is not the fittest, I confess;

Perhaps your royal highness may be pleased

To grant me audience in your private chamber.

CARLOS.For what? And why not here? Only be brief.

ALVA.

The special object which has brought me hither,

Is to return your highness lowly thanks

For your good services.

CARLOS.

Thanks to me

For what? Duke Alva's thanks!

ALVA.

You scarce had left

His majesty, ere I received in form

Instructions to depart for Brussels.

CARLOS.

What!

For Brussels!

ALVA.

And to what, most gracious prince,

Must I ascribe this favor, but to you

Your intercession with the king?

CARLOS.

Ob, no!

Not in the least to me; but, duke, you travel,

So Heaven be with your grace!

ALVA.

And is this all?

It seems, indeed, most strange! And has your highness

No further orders, then, to send to Flanders?

CARLOS.

What should I have?

ALVA.

Not long ago, it seemed,


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The country's fate required your presence.

CARLOS.

How?

But yes, you're right,it was so formerly;

But now this change is better as it is.

ALVA.

I am amazed

CARLOS.

You are an able general,

No one doubts thatenvy herself must own it.

For me, I'm but a youthso thought the king.

CARLOS.

The king was right, quite right. I see it nowMyself, and am contentand so no more.

God speed your journey, as you see, just now

My hands are full, and weighty business presses.

The rest to-morrow, or whene'er you will,

Or when you come from Brussels.

ALVA.

What is this?

CARLOS.

The season favors, and your route will lie

Through Milan, Lorraine, Burgundy, and on

To Germany! What, Germany? Ay, true,

In Germany it wasthey know you there.

'Tis April now, May, June,in July, then,

Just so! or, at the latest, soon in August,

You will arrive in Brussels, and no doubt

We soon shall hear of your victorious deeds.

You know the way to win our high esteem,

And earn the crown of fame.

ALVA (significantly).

Indeed! condemned

By my own conscious insignificance!

CARLOS.

You're sensitive, my lord, and with some cause,

I own it was not fair to use a weapon

Against your grace you were unskilled to wield.


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ALVA.

Unskilled!

CARLOS.

'Tis pity I've no leisure nowTo fight this worthy battle fairly out

But at some other time, we

ALVA.

Prince, we both

Miscalculatebut still in opposite ways.

You, for example, overrate your age

By twenty years, whilst on the other band,

I, by as many, underrate it

CARLOS.Well

ALVA.

And this suggests the thought, how many nights

Beside this lovely Lusitanian bride

Your motherwould the king right gladly give

To buy an arm like this, to aid his crown.

Full well he knows, far easier is the task

To make a monarch than a monarchy;

Far easier too, to stock the world with kings

Than frame an empire for a king to rule.

CARLOS.

Most true, Duke Alva, yet

ALVA.

And how much blood,

Your subjects' dearest blood, must flow in streams

Before two drops could make a king of you.

CARLOS.

Most true, by heaven! and in two words comprised,

All that the pride of merit has to urge

Against the pride of fortune. But the moral

Now, Duke Alva!

ALVA.

Woe to the nursling babe

Of royalty that mocks the careful hand


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Which fosters it! How calmly it may sleep

On the soft cushion of our victories!

The monarch's crown is bright with sparkling gems,

But no eye sees the wounds that purchased them.

This sword has given our laws to distant realms,

Has blazed before the banner of the cross,And in these quarters of the globe has traced

Ensanguined furrows for the seed of faith.

God was the judge in heaven, and I on earth.

CARLOS.

God, or the devilit little matters which;

Yours was his chosen armthat stands confessed.

And now no more of this. Some thoughts there are

Whereof the memory pains me. I respect

My father's choice,my father needs an Alva!

But that he needs him is not just the pointI envy in him: a great man you are,

This may be true, and I well nigh believe it,

Only I fear your mission is begun

Some thousand years too soon. Alva, methinks,

Were just the man to suit the end of time.

Then when the giant insolence of vice

Shall have exhausted Heaven's enduring patience,

And the rich waving harvest of misdeeds

Stand in full ear, and asks a matchless reaper,

Then should you fill the post. O God! my paradise!

My Flanders! But of this I must not think.

'Tis said you carry with you a full store

Of sentences of death already signed.

This shows a prudent foresight! No more need

To fear your foes' designs, or secret plots:

Oh, father! ill indeed I've understood thee.

Calling thee harsh, to save me from a post,

Where Alva's self alone can fitly shine!

'Twas an unerring token of your love.

ALVA.

These words deserve

CARLOS.

What!

ALVA.

But your birth protects you.


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CARLOS (seizing his sword).

That calls for blood! Duke, draw your sword!

ALVA (slightingly).

On whom?

CARLOS. (pressing upon him).

Draw, or I run you through.

ALVA.

Then be it so.

[They fight.

SCENE VI.

The QUEEN, DON CARLOS, DUKE ALVA.

QUEEN (coming from her room alarmed).

How! naked swords?

[To the PRINCE in an indignant and commanding tone.

Prince Carlos!

CARLOS (agitated at the QUEEN's look, drops his arm, stands motionless,

then rushes to the DUKE, and embraces him).

Pardon, duke!

Your pardon, sir! Forget, forgive it all!

[Throws himself in silence at the QUEEN'S feet, then rising

suddenly, departs in confusion.

ALVA.

By heaven, 'tis strange!

QUEEN (remains a few moments as if in doubt, then retiring to her

apartment).

A word with you, Duke ALVA.

[Exit, followed by the DUKE.


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SCENE VII.

The PRINCESS EBOLI's apartment.

The PRINCESS in a simple, but elegant dress, playing on the lute.

The QUEEN's PAGE enters.

PRINCESS (starting up suddenly)

He comes!

PAGE (abruptly).

Are you alone? I wonder much

He is not here already; but he mustBe here upon the instant.

PRINCESS.

Do you say must!

Then he will come, this much is certain then.

PAGE.

He's close upon my steps. You are beloved,

Adored, and with more passionate regard

Than mortal ever was, or can be loved.

Oh! what a scene I witnessed!

PRINCESS (impatiently draws him to her).

Quick, you spoke

With him! What said he? Tell me straight

How did he look? what were his words? And say

Did he appear embarrassed or confused

And did he guess who sent the key to him?

Be quick! or did he not? He did not guess

At all, perhaps! or guessed amiss! Come, speak,

How! not a word to answer me? Oh, fie!

You never were so dullso slow before,'Tis past all patience.

PAGE.

Dearest lady, hear me!

Both key and note I placed within his hands,

In the queen's antechamber, and he started

And gazed with wonder when I told him that


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A lady sent me!

PRINCESS.

Did he start? go on!

That's excellent. Proceed, what next ensued?

PAGE.

I would have told him more, but he grew pale,

And snatched the letter from my hand, and said

With look of deadly menace, he knew all.

He read the letter with confusion through,

And straight began to tremble.

PRINCESS.

He knew all!

He knew it all? Were those his very words?

PAGE.

He asked me, and again he asked, if you

With your own hands had given me the letter?

PRINCESS.

If I? Then did he mention me by name?

PAGE.

By name! no name he mentioned: there might be

Listeners, he said, about the palace, who

Might to the king disclose it.

PRINCESS (surprised).

Said he that?

PAGE.

He further said, it much concerned the king;

Deeply concernedto know of that same letter.

PRINCESS.

The king! Nay, are you sure you heard him right?

The king! Was that the very word he used?

PAGE.

It was. He called it a most perilous secret,

And warned me to be strictly on my guard,

Never with word or look to give the king

Occasion for suspicion.


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PRINCESS (after a pause, with astonishment).

All agrees!

It can be nothing elsehe must have heard

The tale'tis very strange! Who could have told him,

I wonder who? The eagle eye of love

Alone could pierce so far. But tell me furtherHe read the letter.

PAGE.

Which, he said, conveyed

Such bliss as made him tremble, and till then

He had not dared to dream of. As he spoke

The duke, by evil chance, approached the room,

And this compelled us

PRINCESS (angrily).

What in all the worldCould bring the duke to him at such a time?

What can detain him? Why appears he not?

See how you've been deceived; how truly blest

Might he have been alreadyin the time

You've taken to describe his wishes to me!

PAGE.

The duke, I fear

PRINCESS.

Again, the duke! What can

The duke want here? What should a warrior want

With my soft dreams of happiness? He should

Have left him there, or sent him from his presence.

Where is the man may not be treated thus?

But Carlos seems as little versed in love

As in a woman's hearthe little knows

What minutes are. But hark! I hear a step;

Away, away!

[PAGE hastens out.

Where have I laid my lute?

I must not seem to wait for him. My song

Shall be a signal to him.

SCENE VIII.


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The PRINCESS, DON CARLOS.

The PRINCESS has thrown herself upon an ottoman,

and plays.

CARLOS (rushes in; he recognizes the PRINCESS, and stands thunderstruck).Gracious Heaven!

Where am I?

PRINCESS (lets her lute fall, and meeting him)

What? Prince Carlos! yes, in truth.

CARLOS.

Where am I? Senseless error; I have missed

The right apartment.

PRINCESS.With what dexterous skill

Carlos contrives to hit the very room

Where ladies sit alone!

CARLOS.

Your pardon, princess!

I foundI found the antechamber open.

PRINCESS.

Can it be possible? I fastened it

Myself; at least I thought so

CARLOS.

Ay! you thought,

You only thought so; rest assured you did not.

You meant to lock it, that I well believe:

But most assuredly it was not locked.

A lute's sweet sounds attracted me, some hand

Touched it with skill; say, was it not a lute?

[Looking round inquiringly.

Yes, there it lies, and Heaven can bear me witness

I love the lute to madness. I became

All ear, forgot myself in the sweet strain,

And rushed into the chamber to behold

The lovely eyes of the divine musician

Who charmed me with the magic of her tones.

PRINCESS.

Innocent curiosity, no doubt!


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But it was soon appeased, as I can prove.

[Aft

Schiller Collection - Don Carlos

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